Drink Here Now: Firefly, Free Cider, and Fizzy Mojitos

The Butcher's Hard Lemonade is ready to refresh at 4505 Burgers and BBQ. Photo credit: 4505 Burgers and BBQ.

You might want to clone yourself so you can attend all of this week's boozy events, happening in SF and the East Bay.

Beer Pairing Dinner at A16 RockridgeCalicraft Brewing Co. and A16 Chef Rocky Maselli will team up to host a beer dinner this Thursday, July 10, at A16 in Rockridge. The à la carte menu features an appetizer, a pasta dish, and two entrées paired with four Calicraft beers. Start with the Crispy Fried Chicken Livers with jalapeño agrodolce ($11) served with Cali Coast Kolsch-style ale. Those with smaller appetites will be satiated by the fusilli pasta with house-made fennel sausage, savoury clam, and white wine ($19) paired with Buzzerkeley Sparkling Ale. Larger appetites might prefer the heritage-smoked pork chop with romano beans, blackberry mostada and douglas fir ($28) paired with the City IPA or the wood oven-roasted Lucky Dog hanger steak with sweet corn, friarelli pepper and buffalo milk blue cheese ($29) served with Oaktown Brown Ale. The beer pairing dinner is available from 5:30 pm to 10 pm. Reservations are recommended. 5356 College Ave., Oakland

Michter's Tasting & Cocktail Class at BUILD Pizzeria RomaThe East Bay is, it seems, the place to be this Thursday. BUILD Pizzeria Roma in downtown Berkeley will host a Michter's Whiskey Tasting and Cocktail Class from 6 to 9 pm, with guest speaker Joseph Torres. For $30 (in advance), you can taste Michter's bourbon, rye, sour mash, and American whiskies, snack on finger food, and learn from the BUILD bar experts how to make a classic old-fashioned cocktail. If you can't find neighborhood street parking, look for one of the nearby garages. Better yet, take BART (BUILD is located a mere 2.5 blocks from the Downtown Berkeley station.) 2286 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley

Free Cider and Art Reception at City HallLove SF too much to leave her on a school night? Celebrate the one you love with city leaders this Thursday at the City of Awesome Art Opening at City Hall. Devoto Orchards provides the free hard cider, and iconic sights of San Francisco provide the setting for a series of large, collaborative paintings featuring self-portraits drawn by people of all ages, doing whatever they do to make Baghdad by the Bay awesome. Artist/Educator Todd Berman will be on hand to discuss his approach to crowd-sourced, community-informed art. Guests will get a chance to contribute their own drawings, which will be used for his current project. This free reception, open to the public, is hosted by Supervisor David Campos, in his office, from 4pm to 7pm. 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 268, San Francisco

More than Meat at 4505You probably know 4505 Meats for their beef and pork, but they're selling a lot more than just meat at their recently-opened restaurant, 4505 Burgers and BBQ. This weekend, they will launch a couple of $8 low-proof cocktails that might just blow your flesh-loving mind. The Butcher's Hard Lemonade is made with a fermented agave spirit and house lemonade, while the Sparkling Limeade is a fizzy take on the classic Mojito. Our sources tell us they soak fresh mint overnight in fermented sugar cane, add sparkling wine, and garnish with mint. This week, 4505 is also tapping a keg of Almanac's Golden Gate Gose and a keg of Headlands Brewery Groupe G Belgian Rye IPA, named after a group of World War II Belgian Troops responsible for sabotaging German tanks. Delightful. 705 Divisadero, SF

Beyond German Beer at Schroeder'sSpeaking of Germans, Schroeder's newly-renovated restaurant in the Financial District is much more than a beer hall. Want proof? Check out their new take on the German classic Kirschwasser cocktail, made with Applejack, Kirschwasser, sweet vermouth, Luxardo apricot and lime juice, served over a large ice cube with two brandied cherries. They call it the Firefly, but as far as we know, there are no discounts offered for browncoats. Alas. 240 Front St., SF